Economic Development Will Skip Some States

January 12, 2000

Although the U.S. as a whole is riding an economic boom, some states could fall increasingly behind while others are poised for increasing prosperity in the years ahead. That is the conclusion of a study from the Corporation for Enterprise Development.

The organization compared the prospects for all 50 states, ranking them "A" to "F" on three criteria -- performance, business vitality and development capacity.

Colorado and Utah received A's in all three categories.

These were followed by Massachusetts, Minnesota, Washington, Delaware, Michigan and New Jersey -- which received mixtures of A's and B's.

States with poor prospects were Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and New Mexico.

Dead last, with all F's, was West Virginia.

The CFED drew attention to the growing concentration of resources for innovation. California, for example, garnered 46 percent of the nation's venture-capital investments in 1998.

If this pattern continues, those states left out in the cold could find themselves falling further and further behind.

Source: Gene Koretz, "Vying for the Fast Track," Business Week, December 20, 1999.